How Popcorn Pops!

Popcorn kernels contain oil and water with starch, surrounded by a hard and strong outer coating. When popcorn is heated, the water inside the kernel tries to expand into steam, but it cannot escape through the seed coat (the popcorn hull). The hot oil and steam gelatinizes the starch inside the popcorn kernel, making it softer and more pliable. When the popcorn reaches a temperature of 180 °C (356 °F), the pressure inside the kernel is around 135 psi (930 kPa). This is sufficient pressure to rupture the popcorn hull, essentially turning the kernel inside-out. The pressure inside the kernel is released very quickly, expanding the proteins and starch inside the popcorn kernel into a foam, which cools and sets into the familiar popcorn puff.

1. John McCain heated about popcorn provision

Writing Politico Stories Based on Their Headlines: John McCain Makes Microwavable Popcorn

By Juli Weiner3:10 PM, June 12 2012

Given the above, what do you think the substance—in the most generous sense of the word—is of this actual Politico story? Because guessing the content is undoubtedly more fun than reading it, we wrote our prediction below.

There’s a kernel of truth to the rumors about John McCain and popcorn.

McCain’s suspicion of microwaves has been the stuff of Beltway lore for ages, but now the situation has really gotten salty.

A visitor to McCain’s Washington, D.C., office confirms exclusively to Politico that the senior Arizona senator stood watching his microwave for approximately 45 seconds before asking an unidentified aide why the Orville Redenbacher (Spicy Nacho) popcorn “wasn’t making any dang noise.” McCain added, “Bam! Bam! Bam!”, an apparent impression of a bag of microwavable popcorn.

According to two sources, the aide then told McCain the microwave was broken, and he’d have to call in a mechanic. After McCain walked away, however, the aide pressed the “popcorn” button on the microwave and then pressed “start”—the latter a step that the senator reportedly skipped.

Following the microwaving process, the aide then brought the bag of popcorn to the 2008 presidential candidate. “Hehhhh?” McCain asked, according to six witnesses. “How’d ya fix it? You get someone in here in . . . What’s it been? . . . An hour?”

It had been exactly three minutes.

The aide didn’t miss a beat—or pop, as it were. “Yes sir, an hour. The microwave engineer is on call today. Very busy with tech stuff: you know, Internet stuff, Facebook.com, iPad.”